Approximately 9,000 years ago in Anatolia, Turkey, an artist drew what could be the world’s oldest known map, complete with a volcano erupting in the background. A recent discovery of lava rock from that time serves as evidence that the painting may indeed be an early example of both cartography and vulcanology. Some archeologists interpreted.....;

3/15/2015

March 7, 2015 – EARTH – In the Fukushima Disaster Zone with UCLA researchers, Mar 3, 2015: Four years after Fukushima disaster, some areas remain untouched, clocks recording the exact time that the tsunami swept through. Access is highly restricted but two UCLA researchers were recently given permission to document the disaster zone. — at 3:45 in — “With this study I think that’s what we’re trying to explore — is that once a nuclear catastrophe strikes, it’s not only affecting that local area, but also worldwide.”

Atmospheric dispersion of Iodine-131 released after the Fukushima event, by Giuseppe A. Marzo, ENEA (Italian National agency for new technologies, Energy and sustainable economic development), 2014: From March 12, 2011, a significant amount of radioactive material… discharged into the atmosphere… Total emission of 131I has been estimated in [128**petabecquerels (PBq)], while 133Xe, and 137Cs total emissions have been estimated in [15,300 PBq and 36.6 PBq], respectively. In this work the global atmospheric dispersion of 131I released by the Fukushima accident is carried out, focusing on this specific radionuclide due to its radiological relevance in terms of consequences on the human health…

The image above summarizes the simulation results. It illustrates the radioactivity concentration due to 131I released into the atmosphere at specific times and integrated over the total atmospheric column. Immediately after the initial release on March 12, the plume moved eastward reaching the United States west coaston [March 15 at 10:00p PST]… In early April the plume extended over the entire northern hemisphere… A significant accidental event occurred at the Fukushima NPPs… volatile radionuclides such as 131I were transported away from the source posingsignificant concern on the safety of the population and the environment worldwide… the atmospheric dispersion of 131I [was] covering the entire northern hemisphere by early April…

**According to a document released by TEPCO, “Our result shows a higher I-131 amount (500PBq) compared to the result obtained from a thirdparty organization (120-200PBq).”

3/13/2015

The shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia, the world's largest body of fresh water and popular tourist destination, are covered with rotting algae dangerous to its unique ecosystem.

Baikal is getting increasingly contaminated by spirogyra, which could pose a threat to the purity of its waters.

Spirogyra is not native to Baikal's ecosystem. It thrives on biological waste which, according to ecologists, is provided in abundance by the sewage facilities of the local holiday centers, as well as private boats.

Now, most of Baikal's shores are covered in rotting spirogyra. Only the western shore remains clean.

"It has never been detected previously in such a mass abundance. Spirogyra is completely occupying more than 50 percent of the coastal area of Lake Baikal," says Oleg Timoshkin from the Limnological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The institute researches the flora and fauna of Siberian lakes.

"Last year, there was more than 1,500 tonnes of rotting algae. Unfortunately, I can definitely say that Baikal is ill. Seriously ill."

[Video showing algae on the bottom of Lake Baikal. Caption at 01:32 says 'This is what the same part of the lake bottom looked like several years ago".]

Baikal's unequaled purity is in part due to an endemic sponge, lubomirskia baicalensis, which feeds by filtering water. The spirogyra, while harmless by itself, infects the sponge, thus threatening the lake's pristine state.

But the alien algae aren't the only threat Baikalis facing at the moment. Its water level is at a record low – 5cm below the critical level of 456 meters, according to a source in the local emergency services who spoke to RIA Novosti. The level hit critical just three weeks ago.

This has led to the Republic of Buryatia, whose territory includes Baikal's eastern shore, declaring a state of ecologic emergency. The officials have also asked the local population to start saving water.

They say the draining could cause irreversible damage to the lake's unique ecosystem and leave almost 30,000 locals without water. Some local ecologists blame energy companies for over-using Baikal's water reserves.

"At the beginning of the season, in April- May, hydroelectric power plants flushed increased amounts of water, while they should have been saving water in the lake," said Endon Garmaev from the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as cited by Rosbalt news agency. "The flush continued throughout the summer. Energy from hydroelectric plants is the cheapest, and [nearby city] Irkutsk power companies are after a bigger profit."

However, experts from Irkutsk Region, on Baikal's western shore, say there's nothing to worry about, and the dropping water levels are a natural result of ecological cycles, following an unusually dry summer.

"Throughout the existence of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power plant, despite several emergency cases, nothing happened to the lake's biosystem", claims Mikhail Grachev, director of the Limnological Institute, as cited by lenta.ru.

Baikal is the world's oldest freshwater lake, about 25 million years old. It holds one-fifth of the entire planet's freshwater reserves. The importance of its protection has been stressed by UNESCO, which declared it a World Heritage site in 1996.

Scientists say the strandings were reported from Newport, Ore., to McKinleyville in northern Humboldt County in mid-June, making it the geographically largest krill die-off on record.
An examination of 10 krill found all were female and most carried sperm packets, suggesting they may have perished just after mating, Tyburczy said.

To blame is the biggest sardine crash in generations, which
has made schools of the small, silvery fish a rarity on the West Coast.
The decline has prompted steep cuts in the amount fishermen are allowed
to catch, and scientists say the effects are probably radiating
throughout the ecosystem, starving brown pelicans, sea lions and other
predators that rely on the oily, energy-rich fish for food.
If sardines don't recover soon, experts warn, the West Coast's marine mammals, seabirds and fishermen could suffer for years.

"This is just massive, massive, unprecedented,"

said Julia Parrish, a University of Washington seabird ecologist who
oversees the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a
program that has tracked West Coast seabird deaths for almost 20 years.
"We may be talking about 50,000 to 100,000 deaths. So far."

“This year could be a perfect storm,” Nollens said. “An El
Niño climate event affecting the females and yearlings and something
still unexplained affecting the skinny pups.”
. . .
Later this month, she will go out again.
“We’ve told the centers to prepare for the worst,” she said.

.
.
This is NOT an El Nino year. This is a third year of unprecedented West Coast offshore sea surface temperature warming that is the HALLMARK of global warming.

Do you still think that global warming is a hoax, you arrogant, misanthropic, sociopathic, fascist bastards???